A “Deeply Unsettling” Semester
The title of this post comes from a quote from one of our professors. We were sitting around on a ranch in the middle of nowhere in Argentina and discussing reverse culture shock, what it would be like to go back to the US and explain our time abroad to friends and family who would expect … Read more
Buenos Aires: Community and Leisure in Porteno Life
When I first arrived in Buenos Aires, I was walking around downtown past shiny retail stores and crossing the street with crosswalks. It reminded me of Manhattan. I wondered, with all the familiarity of skyscraper-tall malls symbolizing a consumption culture and without the chaos of street markets and informal forms of transportation, would Argentina would … Read more
Da Kar Rapide: Informal Transport and “Being On Time”
The informality of the transportation systems in Dakar and Delhi are examples of the effect that informality and informal structures have on perceptions of societal norms. During a site visit to Patte d’Oie, a station for informal taxis in Dakar, we learned through interviews with the clandestine taxi drivers (with the help of a translator) … Read more
Delhi and Ahmedabad: Displacement, Development, Social Silos, and Feminism
The city of Delhi is different for everyone, it all depends on how you view it and who you are. One night a classmate and I sat together, and talked about how we were worried we had blinded ourselves to structural inequity, extreme poverty, oppression of minorities, problems we knew existed but didn’t want to see. We worried … Read more
Beijing State of Mind
These past few months have gone by too quickly. I’ve had many humbling conversations that have challenged my beliefs, and many experiences that defied my expectations of myself. I love Beijing, and here are a few things I’ve learned this semester: 1. The funny thing about being in your 20s and in a big city is that the … Read more
A Geek Among Banksters: My Month at Standard Chartered Bank Shanghai
This August, I interned with the Digital Ventures Group at Standard Chartered Bank China’s Shanghai office. My work included doing usability testing and user experience research for an iPad app, being a part of product development meetings, creating product demo content for the English version of the website, conducting research for location-based marketing for merchant … Read more
Food Trucks, Dog Tug-of-Wars, and Joining the Mob
This May and June, I interned with the business team at StackMob, a mobile development platform company in San Francisco. My work included conducting customer calls, writing case studies, writing blog posts, planning and helping with community events, and producing a recruiting video. I learned so much about customer engagement for technical products, product evangelism, … Read more
Eurotripping and Gyros
On this quintessential college backpacking through Europe adventure, I’ve met many milestones, including: Accidentally crashing a cocktail party at Somerset House in London Seeing the Queen as she was going into Windsor Castle Standing less than 0.5 km from Boy George Accidentally crashing a wedding in Paris Eating. A lot of eating. Chorizo sandwiches, kebab … Read more
Choosing Change
When I was a high school senior, I thought I wanted to go to a school in a big city. I ended up in a school in rural western Mass. And I absolutely love it. I go to New York and Boston a few times a semester, and I do wonder what it would have … Read more
Flashmobs and Failing Fast
This past year has been: amazing. upsetting. hilarious. disillusioning. exhilarating. It has been full of a lot of travel and new experiences, many important conversations and much questioning. A year in review, in a slightly different format: LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM: Game Theory: Words cannot describe how much I loved this class. Our professor was … Read more
